Padlock shield

ABSTRACT

A padlock shackle shield has an arcuate main portion concentric with the bight of a U-shaped shackle and having end extensions with flat extremities in a common plane, said main portion and said extensions having side flanges and embracing respectively the bight and the arms of said shackle with the outer surfaces of said flanges substantially flush with the outermost surfaces of said bight and said arms, and when the shackle is closed, said flat extremities being in contact with the top wall of the lock body, thereby to resist tampering with the shackle and to practically prevent contact of a blade of a cutting implement with the shackle. Said shield is easily and quickly applicable to and removable from the shackle when the shackle is in open position.

Carley et al.

[4 1 Sept. 2, 1975 PADLOCK SHIELD [76] Inventors: Joseph E. Carley, 51Carman Rd., Harrington Park, NJ. 07640; Emil A. Steup, 59 MountainsideRd., Mendham, NJ. 07945 [22] Filed: July 12, 1973 [21] Appl. No.:378,798

[52] US. Cl 70/54; 70/39 [51} Int. Cl. E05b 67/38 [58] Field of Search70/54, 55,56, 51, 38 R, 70/38 A, 38 B, 38 C, 39

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,475,931 11/1969 Foote70/54 3,721,112 3/1973 Wellekens 70/39 Primary ExaminerRobert L. WolfeAttorney, Agent, or Firm-Harry B. Rook [5 7] ABSTRACT A padlock shackleshield has an arcuate main portion concentric with the bight of aU-shaped shackle and having end extensions with flat extremities in acommon plane, said main portion and said extensions having side flangesand embracing respectively the bight and the arms of said shackle withthe outer surfaces of said flanges substantially flush with theoutermost surfaces of said bight and said arms, and when the shackle isclosed, said flat extremities being in contact with the top wall of thelock body, thereby to resist tampering with the shackle and topractically prevent contact of a blade of a cutting implement with theshackle. Said shield is easily and quickly applicable to and removablefrom the shackle when the shackle is in open position.

1 Claim, 9 Drawing Figures PATENTED SEP 1 5 illi /Z PADLOCK SHIELDBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The Field of the Invention This inventionrelates in particular to that'type of padlock which includes a bodycontaining locking mechanism which coacts with a U-shaped shackle tolock together the loops at the ends of a cable which is wrapped aroundan automobile storage battery spare tire, hood, etc., and fixed parts ofthe vehicle chassis or body to prevent the theft or unauthorized removalof the battery, spare tire, engine components, etc., from theautomobile; although the invention may be, embodied in shackle-typepadlocks of various constructions designed for other purposes than tolock storage batteries in automobiles.

It has been found that thieves frequently attempt to force the padlockshackle by inserting a prying too] between the shackle legs, or attemptsare made to cut or sever the arms of the shackle or to insert devicesinto the body around the shackle arms to manipulate the lockingmechanism and release the shackle.

It is important therefore that the padlock shall be temper-proof, shallbe strongly resistant to sawing or cutting of the shackle arms and shallprevent the insertion of a prying implement into the space between theshackle arms and the body.

While the prior art shows various attempts to achieve these results, theprior devices leave much to be desired either in that they are toocomplicated or expensive or they require specially made and combinedlock bodies and shackles, or they fail to adequately shield the shacklesagainst unauthorized release.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A primary object of the invention is to providea padlock shield which overcomes the objections to and disadvantages ofthe prior devices, and whichis simple and inexpensive and can be adaptedto and used with known padlocks and which will restrict or prevent theinsertion of a prying implement in the space between the shackle and thelock body, and which will positively shield the shackle againsttampering and release by unauthorized force.

Another object is to provide such a combination of padlock shackle, bodyand shield as will resist the application of a cutting tool to theshackle arms when the shackle is in closed or locked position in thebody.

Further objects are to provide a shield which can at will be easilyapplied to or removed from a shackle, Another object is to provide aconstruction that can be adapted for use with shackles having arms ofdifferent length, for example, in a long shackle lock.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a complete understanding of theinvention, reference should be had to the following description inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. I is a side elevational view of a known type of padlock and ashield therefor embodying the invention, illustrating the manner ofapplying the shield to the padlock shackle;

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing the shield applied to the shackle andthe manner of connecting articles to be locked to the shackle;

FIG; 3 is a side elevational view of the construction inthe positionsjust prior to closing the shackle;

F IG. ,4 is a side elevational view showing the lock and shield inlocked condition with cable loops locked together;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view on the plane of the line 5-5 of FIG.4, with the cable loops omitted;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the lock and shield in lockingposition;

FIG. 7' is a top plan view of' the construction shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged detached perspective view of the shield embodyingthe invention, and

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing a modification of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS For the purpose ofillustrating the principles of the invention, we have shown a known typeof padlock which includes a body A which has front and rear walls 1 and2, side walls 3 and 4 and. bottom and top walls 5 and 6 respectively.Projecting from the body at the top wall is a U-shaped shackle B formedwith a bight or bend 7 at opposite ends of which are a long arm 8 and ashort arm 9. The long arm extends into a chamber in the body adjacentand parallel to the side wall 4 and is rotatable and reciprocable sothat selectively the short arm may be disposed above the top wall andswung outwardly beyond the side wall 4 with the bight facing downwardlyand thus place the shackle in its open position as shown in FIGS. 1 and2, or the short arm amy be swung inwardly (FIG. 3) and pushed through ahole in the top wall into said chamber and thereby place the shackle inits closed position as shown in FIG. 4.

Within said chamber in the body is the known mech anism such as aspring-biased key controlled lock, or a permutation lock coacting withthe shackle arms selectively to lock the shackle in closed position orto release the shackle into open position. I

The invention especially contemplates a shield C for the shackle, whichselectively can be constructed to be applied to or removed from theshackle when the shackle is in its open position and to be adapted toand used with known padlocks and without any special form ormodification of padlock structure, andwhich will positively shield theshackle against tampering and resist damaging of the shackle by cuttingor prying implements.

The shield preferably is made of hardened steel to resist cutting andincludes an arcuate main portion 10 whose outer periphery is concentricwith and of the same radius as the inner periphery of the bight 7 of theshackle and has side flanges 11. with whose outer peripheries 12 areconcentric with said main portion with radii substantially equal to theradius of the outer periphery of the shackle bight, said main portionwith its said flanges having end extensions 14 of equal length with flatextremities 13 in a common plane providing when the shackle is open forthe sliding of said shield between the arms of the shackle with saidshackle bight embraced by and seated in said main portion of the shieldand its flanges and with each arm of the shackle embraced by saidextensions and its flanges, and further providing when the shackle isclosed for abutment of said flat extremities I3 of the extensions withthe top wall 1 of said lock body and with the outer peripheral surfacesof said flanges ll of the main portion and its extensions substantiallyflush with the outermost surfaces of the shackle bight and the shacklearms as shown in FIGS. 47, thereby to resist contact of the blade of acutting implement with the shackle.

-.One specialuse for the invention is the locking together of-the loopsD and 'E at the end of a cable F which is wrapped around a storagebattery and-certain fixed parts of an automobile chassis to preventtheft of the battery. A known padlock of the proper type and having theusual shackle of the proper size to receive the two loops; as shown inFIG. 4, is chosen and the shield is made of the appropriate sizeandshape. The shield is held with the flat extremities 13 of the shieldextensions abutting the side wall of the lock body with the shackleswung into open position as shown in FIG. 1, whereupon the shield isslid between the shackle arms and tilted as indicated by broken linesuntil the main portion abuts and embraces the shackle bight (FIG. 2).Then the cable loops are slipped between the extensions 14 ofthe shieldand the shackle is swung inwardly over the body top wall l-(FIGS. 2 and3) after which the arms of the shackle are pushed into engagement withthe locking mechanism in the usual way (FIG. 4); and at the same timethe extremities 13 of the shield extensions approximate contact the topwall of the lock body, so that the insertion of a prying implementbetween the lock body and the shackle is practically prevented, and moreimportantly it is practically impossible to tamper with the shackle orto apply a cutting tool to any portion of the shackle. The shield issimple andinexpensive and can beeasily and quickly applied toand removedfrom the shackle at the will of the owner.

FIG. 9 illustrates a modification where the shield G is formed for usewith a long shackle, for example, to hold together several cables H,here the extensions 14a of the main portion being longer in proportionto the main portion than in the shield hereinbefore explained, toembrace the longer arms 8a and 9a of the shackle .Iof the lock K. Thistype of shield would have to be installed in the original assembly ofthe lock body, shackle and shield.

I claim:

1. In combination with a padlock which includes a body having a topsurface and a side surface and a U- shaped shackle projecting from saidtop surface and including a long arm and a short arm releasably coactivewith locking. means in said body to hold the shackle in closed, positionand release it into open position, said long arm being reciprocable androtatable upon release of the shackel to permit said short arm to bedisposed above said surface of the body and swung outwardly beyond saidside surface with the bight of the shackle facing downwardly, a shackleshield which has an arcuate. main portion concentric with the bight ofthe shackle and formed with end extensions provided with flatextremities in a common plane, said main portion and said extensionshaving side flanges providing that when the shackle is in open positionsaid shield 15 slidable between the short arm of the shackle and saidside surface and between the arms of the shackle with said shackle bightembraced by and seated in said main portion of the shield between itsflanges and with each arm of the shackle embraced by one of saidextensions and its flanges, and further providing when the shackle isclosed for abutment of said flat extremities of the extensions with thetop surface of said lock body and for disposition of the outerperipheral surfaces of said flanges of the main portion and itsextensions substantially flush with the outermost surfaces of theshackle bight and the shackle arms, whereby when the shackle is inclosed position the shield practically prevents contact of a blade of acutting implement with the shackle and when the shackle is open there ispermitted easy and quick insertion and removal of the shield into andfrom the shackle, respectively, said extensions of the shackle shieldbeing spaced apart providing clearance for insertion into the arcuateportion of an object

1. In combination with a padlock which includes a body having a topsurface and a side surface and a U-shaped shackle projecting from saidtop surface and including a long arm and a short arm releasably coactivewith locking means in said body to hold the shackle in closed positionand release it into open position, said long arm being reciprocable androtatable upon release of the shackel to permit said short arm to bedisposed above said surface of the body and swung outwardly beyond saidside surface with the bight of the shackle facing downwardly, a shackleshield which has an arcuate main portion concentric with the bight ofthe shackle and formed with end extensions provided with flatextremities in a common plane, said main portion and said extensionshaving side flanges providing that when the shackle is in open positionsaid shield is slidable between the short arm of the shackle and saidside surface and between the arms of the shackle with said shackle bightembraced by and seated in said main portion of the shield between itsflanges and with each arm of the shackle embraced by one of saidextensions and its flanges, and further providing when the shackle isclosed for abutment of said flat extremities of the extensions with thetop surface of said lock body and for disposition of the outerperipheral surfaces of said flanges of the main portion and itsextensions substantially flush with the outermost surfaces of theshackle bight and the shackle arms, whereby when the shackle is inclosed position the shield practically prevents contact of a blade of acutting implement with the shackle and when the shackle is open there ispermitted easy and quick insertion and removal of the shield into andfrom the shackle, respectively, said extensions of the shackle shieldbeing spaced apart providing clearance for insertion into the arcuateportion of an object to be connected to the padlock.